Social context for inter-media objects

ABSTRACT

Embodiments are disclosed that relate to social context for inter-media objects. One embodiment provides a method comprising receiving preference data indicating user preferences of each of the plurality of socially networked users regarding the inter-media object, and aggregating the preference data across the social graph to form social graph aggregate data. The method further comprises providing the content item to a selected user of the plurality of socially networked users, and based upon a location of the selected user within the social graph, generating a selected set of the social graph aggregate data for the inter-media object from the social graph aggregate data for the selected user. The method further comprises providing to the selected user a representation of social context for the inter-media object based on the selected set of the social graph aggregate data.

BACKGROUND

Various hypervideo techniques have been developed to allow for taggingof objects within a video content item. For example, a user may annotatea video using a hypervideo authoring tool to manually add tags withinthe video. Hypervideo techniques may also be utilized, for example, tosegment a video into pieces (e.g., into scenes). In addition to manualtagging, other approaches may be utilized to tag videos. As an example,another approach includes community-based tagging (e.g., crowd sourcing)wherein a group of several users provides tags for a video.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments are disclosed herein that relate to social contextfor inter-media objects. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides,in a computing device, a method of providing social context for aninter-media object occurring within an audio and/or video content item,where the content item is accessible by a plurality of sociallynetworked users within a social graph. The method comprises receivingpreference data indicating user preferences of each of the plurality ofsocially networked users regarding the inter-media object, andaggregating the preference data across the social graph to form socialgraph aggregate data. The method further comprises providing the contentitem to a selected user of the plurality of socially networked users.The method further comprises, based upon a location of the selected userwithin the social graph, generating a selected set of the social graphaggregate data for the inter-media object from the social graphaggregate data for the selected user. The method further comprisesproviding to the selected user a representation of social context forthe inter-media object based on the selected set of the social graphaggregate data.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore,the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solveany or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic depiction of an example use environment forimplementing the provision and display of social context for aninter-media object, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a method ofproviding social context for an inter-media object occurring within anaudio and/or video content item, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a method ofreceiving social context for an inter-video object occurring within avideo content item, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various hypervideo techniques have been developed to allow for taggingwithin a video content item, including manual tagging andcommunity-based tagging, as introduced above. Another approach includesalgorithmic tagging, wherein algorithms are applied to separate a videointo algorithmically identifiable, taggable content. Such algorithmictagging may provide for more efficient tagging. Further, various contentrecognition techniques may be used to identify objects variouslyoccurring within a video, or “inter-video objects.” For example, in thecase of video content, inter-video objects are objects appearingon-screen, and include, but are not limited to, a character within avideo content item, a physical object within a video content item, alocation within a video content item, an actor or character within avideo content item, etc. Further, applications of such object detectionand tagging may be extended to other types of media, such as audio. Inother words, more generally, hypermedia techniques can be utilized toidentify “inter-media objects” variously occurring within a contentitem, and such inter-media objects may be hyperlinked to enable a richeruser experience than conventional video. Social context for inter-mediaobjects as disclosed herein provides social context not just for acontent item itself, but for the inter-media objects within the contentitem, wherein the social context is based on a user's social graph. Assuch, providing social context for inter-media objects may facilitatediscovery of relevant objects discovered and played across multiplevideos by various users, thus enhancing a user's experience, asdescribed in more detail as follows.

It is becoming increasingly more common for a media user to be sociallynetworked via a computer network to other people, such as a group offriends, a group of co-workers, a group of community members, etc. Bybeing part of a social graph, the user might find it more convenient,for example, to contact and communicate with friends, and stay abreastof friends' actions, activities, likes, dislikes, etc. A social graphfacilitate spreading explicit information that a user chooses to makeavailable, for example via postings on a profile page, Further, useractivity on a computing device may be analyzed over the social graph toprovide information implicit in such activity to a user. For example, ifa user is listening to a song on their computer, the user may benotified that a friend within their social graph has indicated that thisparticular song is their favorite song. As another example, if a user iswatching a movie on their computer, the user may be notified that thisparticular movie is the most-watched movie within their social graph.Social context for inter-media objects as disclosed herein thus providessocial context not just for a content item itself, but for theinter-media objects within the content item. It will be understood thata user may be provided with such sharing and information analysiscapabilities on an opt-in basis, and that a user may choose to maintainhis or her activities private as a default setting.

As a more specific example, social context for inter-media objects maybe utilized in the following example use scenario. A user flippingthrough channels may stop on an episode of a television show, and afterwatching a few minutes of a re-run, notice that an actor has a specialicon flashing above his head indicating that the user's friend iscurrently watching that actor in a movie on another channel. As such,the user may decide to join his friend and watch the movie with him. Asanother example use scenario, a user may be watching an episode of atelevision show and discover that one of the characters is her friend'sfavorite by special notifications popping up on the screen with thisinformation. It will be appreciated that these specific uses arepresented for the purpose of example, and are not intended to belimiting in any manner.

FIG. 1 shows an example use environment 100, including a host computingdevice 102 configured to provide content items (e.g., audio contentitems, video content items, etc.) to various client computing devicesvia a network 103. For example, host computing device 102 may provide acontent item(s) to an example client computing device 104 and a selecteduser 106 of computing device 104. Host computing device 102 may alsoprovide content items to one or more other client computing devices. Asan example, selected user 106 may be socially networked to other userswithin a social graph via network 103, such as depicted at 108. As such,host computing device 102 may be configured to provide content items tocomputing devices corresponding to the other users within the socialgraph 108.

In addition to providing content items, host computing device 102 may befurther configured to provide social context for an inter-media objectoccurring within an audio content item, video content item, etc. As anexample, for the case of a video content item, an inter-video object maybe an actor appearing at various times during the video content item. Asanother example, the inter-video object may be a location or settingappearing within the video content item. As yet another example, theinter-video object may be a physical object displayed during the videocontent item, such as an animal, a building, a commercial productplacement, etc. In the depicted example, host computing device 102 hasprovided a video content item 110 to client computing device 104 fordisplay via display subsystem 112 of client computing device 104.Examples of inter-video objects shown for video content item include aperson 114, a dog 116 and a location 118. It can be appreciated thatsuch examples of inter-video objects are nonlimiting, and virtually anyother such object of the video content item may be additionally oralternatively identified.

The social context for an inter-media object comprises socialinformation about the inter-media object based on user preferences ofselected user 106 and other users within social graph 108. As such, byproviding social context to selected user 106, selected user 106 maydiscover additional information based on preferences of various userswithin the user's social graph 108. For example, a representation ofsocial context may include statistics about user preferences of theother users within the social graph to the inter-video object (e.g.,identify a particular actor as one of the most-watched actors by theuser's friends in the social graph; identify that the user's friendlikes or doesn't like a particular actor, etc.). As another example, arepresentation of social context may include suggested video contentrelated to the inter-video object (e.g., a suggested television show,movie, on-demand actor interview, etc.).

In some embodiments, representations of social context may appear duringplayback (e.g., pop up during an on-screen appearance of the inter-videoobject, appear in a side-menu, etc.). For example, FIG. 1 depicts anexample representation of social context 120 displayed by an inter-videoobject, namely person 114. It can be appreciated that social context 120is nonlimiting, and social context may be provided in virtually anyother suitable manner.

Further, in some embodiments, representations of social context mayappear within a user interface providing a programming guide by which auser can access/request content (e.g., a discovery menu). For example,the representation of social context may include a discovery resultwithin a content discovery user interface functionality, and may, forexample, provide an entry point(s) to user-selectable video contentsuggested to the user based on the user preferences of sociallynetworked users within the social graph. As an example, FIG. 1 shows adiscovery menu 122 within which example representations of socialcontext 124 and 126 are displayed. In the depicted example, socialcontext 124 includes a movie and two television shows, whereas socialcontext 126 includes an on-demand actor interview.

Continuing with FIG. 1, host computing device 102 includes a logicsubsystem 128 and a data-holding subsystem 130. Host computing device102 may further be configured to read a computer-readable removablemedia 132, which may be used to store and/or transfer data and/orinstructions executable to implement the herein described embodiments.Host computing device 102 may further include various other componentsnot shown in FIG. 1.

Logic subsystem 128 may include one or more physical devices configuredto execute one or more instructions, such as a method of providingsocial context for an inter-media object occurring within an audioand/or video content item, as described in more detail hereafter withreference to FIG. 2. For example, the logic subsystem may be configuredto execute one or more instructions that are part of one or moreprograms, routines, objects, components, data structures, or otherlogical constructs. Such instructions may be implemented to perform atask, implement a data type, transform the state of one or more devices,or otherwise arrive at a desired result. The logic subsystem may includeone or more processors that are configured to execute softwareinstructions. Additionally or alternatively, the logic subsystem mayinclude one or more hardware or firmware logic machines configured toexecute hardware or firmware instructions. The logic subsystem mayoptionally include individual components that are distributed throughouttwo or more devices, which may be remotely located in some embodiments.

Data-holding subsystem 130 may include one or more physical,non-transitory, devices configured to hold data and/or instructionsexecutable by the logic subsystem to implement the herein describedmethods and processes. When such methods and processes are implemented,the state of data-holding subsystem 130 may be transformed (e.g., tohold different data). Data-holding subsystem 130 may include removablemedia and/or built-in devices. Data-holding subsystem 130 may includeoptical memory devices, semiconductor memory devices, and/or magneticmemory devices, among others. Data-holding subsystem 130 may includedevices with one or more of the following characteristics: volatile,nonvolatile, dynamic, static, read/write, read-only, random access,sequential access, location addressable, file addressable, and contentaddressable. In some embodiments, logic subsystem 128 and data-holdingsubsystem 130 may be integrated into one or more common devices, such asan application specific integrated circuit or a system on a chip.

Example client computing device 104 also comprises a logic subsystem134, a data-holding subsystem 136, and the previously mentioned displaysubsystem 112. Client computing device 104 further may optionallyinclude computer-readable removable media 138 and/or other componentsnot shown in FIG. 1. Logic subsystem 134 of client computing device 104may include one or more physical devices configured to execute one ormore instructions, such as a method of receiving social context for aninter-video object occurring within a video content item, as describedin more detail hereafter with reference to FIG. 3.

Display subsystem 112 may be used to present a visual representation ofdata held by data-holding subsystem 136. As the herein described methodsand processes change the data held by the data-holding subsystem, andthus transform the state of the data-holding subsystem, the state ofdisplay subsystem 112 may likewise be transformed to visually representchanges in the underlying data. Display subsystem 112 may include one ormore display devices utilizing virtually any type of technology. Suchdisplay devices may be combined with logic subsystem 134 and/ordata-holding subsystem 136 in a shared enclosure, or such displaydevices may be peripheral display devices.

Turning now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram depicting an exampleembodiment of a method 200 of providing social context for aninter-media object occurring within an audio and/or video content item.Such a method may be executed, for example, by host computing device102. The content item may be accessible by a plurality of sociallynetworked users within a social graph, such as, for example, a user andthe user's friends.

At 202, method 200 includes receiving preference data indicating userpreferences of each of the plurality of socially networked usersregarding the inter-media object. The preference data may includepreference data for each of the plurality of socially networked userswithin the social graph. For example, using the concepts of hypervideo,a video content item can be broken down into objects displayed atvarious times within the video, and preference data may be generated forthe media content item itself (e.g., actor A is displayed at thefollowing time intervals during episode X; city B is the location ofepisode Y, etc.).

In some embodiments, the preference data may include implicit data basedon media-related user behavior collected for that socially networkeduser. Such implicit user preference data may include information for avideo episode (e.g., user X played episode Y), for example, as well asinformation about specific objects displayed within the video (e.g.,user X watched episode Y, which included character A for Z minutes).Further, in some cases, implicit user behavior may include detectedactions such as user-selected navigation during programming when aparticular inter-video object is on-screen (e.g., pausing, rewinding,fast-forwarding, etc.). Implicit user behavior also may include inputfrom other input devices. For example, where a client system includes amotion-sensing camera, implicit user behavior may include userbehaviors/body language during which the user elicits a particularresponse (e.g., laughing) when a particular inter-video object ison-screen, etc.

Further, in some embodiments, the preference data may include explicitdata indicating user-defined preferences provided by that sociallynetworked user (e.g., most-watched actor, least-watched actor, favoriteactor, favorite character, top-rated location, etc.). In other words,user preference data may include information for a movie (e.g., user Xplayed movie Y), for example, and also data about specific objects(e.g., characters) displayed within the movie (e.g., user X has ratedcharacter A as a “favorite”).

In some embodiments, in addition to receiving such preference data,method 200 may further include collecting such preference data.Accordingly, collecting the preference data may include obtainingexplicit data (e.g., user-defined data) provided by the users.Additionally or alternatively, collecting the preference data mayinclude recognizing/analyzing user media behaviors, collectingpreference data via inter-video object recognition and facialrecognition, etc. Object and/or facial recognition techniques mayutilize any suitable technology. For example, with regard to facialrecognition, techniques may be utilized to identify faces, identifyperspectives of faces (e.g., looking forward, looking to the side,etc.), etc. With that data, a “face forward image” of the face may begenerated, and facial recognition techniques may then be applied to thatimage to determine the identity of the face. Upon doing so, the face canthen be tracked in the video. It can be appreciated this is just one ofmany suitable approaches to facial recognition within video contentitems, and that various other suitable techniques may be utilizedwithout departing from the scope of this disclosure.

In some embodiments, preference data may be collected via an algorithmicapproach, which can generate metadata per frame, or “time-basedmetadata,” on the video itself. As an example, faces may be identifiedon the screen during watching of a television show, movie, etc. over thecourse of a duration (e.g., one month). An algorithm may then beutilized to determine, for example “what actors you watch the most.”Examples of algorithms include, but are not limited to, most-watchedactor (e.g., derived by total viewing minutes), most-watched actor(e.g., derived by most unique shows watched with a specified actor),actor that caused the most laughter, etc. In other embodiments,preference data may be collected via a manual approach based oncommunity-based tagging (e.g., crowd-sourcing).

By receiving preference data indicating users' preferences to theinter-media object, usage aggregates can be applied at a more granularlevel, namely to the inter-media objects themselves. As an example, itmay be determined that user X watched character A for a total of Zminutes. As another example, it may be determined that user X has fivefavorite characters. As yet another example, whereas traditionalmetadata for a cast-listing may not indicate the duration of an actor'sperformance within the video content item, preference data indicatingusers' preferences to the inter-media object can provide aweighted-relevance of the time a particular actor appeared in the movie.As such, social context including suggested content for the inter-videoobject, as described in more detail hereafter with reference to 210, caninclude content where the actor has a time-significant appearance, asopposed to a mere cameo appearance.

Continuing with FIG. 2, at 204, method 200 includes aggregating thepreference data across the social graph to form social graph aggregatedata. At 206, method 200 includes providing the content item (e.g., anepisode of a television show, on-demand programming, a movie, etc.) to aselected user of the plurality of socially networked users. In someembodiments, the content item may be provided in response to receiving arequest from a client computing device for a selected video, forexample.

At 208, method 200 includes, based upon a location of the selected userwithin the social graph, generating a selected set of the social graphaggregate data for the inter-media object from the social graphaggregate data for the selected user (e.g., Character A is the mostwatched by the user's friends). As another example, the selected set ofsocial graph aggregate data for the inter-media object may indicate topinter-video objects across a set of users and their respective socialsgraphs (e.g., most watched actors by the user's friends).

At 208, method 200 includes providing, to the selected user, arepresentation of social context for the inter-media object based on theselected set of the social graph aggregate data. In other words, displayand communication of social context specific to objects within the videotransmission may be provided. In some embodiments, the representation ofsocial context for the inter-media object is provided to the selecteduser for display during an on-screen appearance of the inter-mediaobject. In other words, a visual metaphor may be provided on and/or neara visual object while the user is watching the visual object on screen(e.g., “this actor is the most viewed by friend X or Y,” “user X doesnot like this actor,” etc.) Further, in some embodiments, providing thesocial context may include recognizing the inter-video object duringplayback of a video content item, and in response, displaying socialcontext of the inter-video object during playback. For example, uponrecognizing character A in a scene of a video, social context can bedisplayed indicating that this character is the user's friend Z'sfavorite character. Further, displaying social context during playbackmay include determining a location of the inter-video object on-screen(e.g. x,y coordinates), determining a temporal location of theinter-video object on-screen within the video content item, etc. inorder to insert a visual indication of the social context accordingly.

Further, in some embodiments, the inter-media object may be provided tothe selected user as a discovery result within a discovery menu. Forexample, the discovery menu may be a programming guide through which theuser requests/accesses programming. In such a case, the discovery resultmay provide one or more entry points to user-selectable video contentsuggested to the selected user based on the selected set of the socialgraph aggregate data. For example, if the inter-video object is anactor, the discovery result may include other movies, television shows,etc. that include the actor, which the user may then request to view. Asanother example, the inter-video object may be a character from atelevision show, and the discovery result may include other cross-overtelevision shows which the character appeared in, a movie which thecharacter appeared in, etc., which the user may then request to view. Assuch, discovery results in the discovery menu may provide an alternativeto a time-based programming guide, in that a user can discover aspectsof content that may be relevant to them. For example, a user may view alist of top characters that their friends watch, and this list may alsoprovide an entry point to watch a television episode or movie with thatactor. Or, based on explicit collection of a user's favorite actor, thediscovery result may include options of available shows having thatactor.

Method 200 may be utilized within the context of plural video contentitems. For example, the aforementioned video content item may be a firstvideo content item provided to the client computing device. The hostcomputing device may then be further configured to, for example, receivea second request from the client computing device for a second selectedvideo content item, send the second selected video content item to theclient computing device, and then recognize a presence of theinter-video object in the second selected video content item. The hostcomputing device may then send, to the client computing device, anotherrepresentation of social context for the inter-video object.

Further, method 200 may optionally be utilized within the context ofplural computing devices. For example, the aforementioned video contentitem may be a first video content item provided to a first clientcomputing device. The host computing device may then be furtherconfigured to, for example, receive a second request from a secondclient computing device for a second selected video content item, wherethe second computing device is associated with another of the one ormore users socially networked within the social graph. The hostcomputing device may then send the second selected video content item tothe second client computing device, recognize a presence of the firstinter-video object in the second selected video content item, and sendto the second client computing device a representation of social contextfor the first inter-video object.

Turning now to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram depicting an exampleembodiment of a method 300 of receiving social context for aninter-media object occurring within an audio and/or video content item.Such a method may be executed, for example, by client computing device104. At 302, method 300 includes sending user preference data to a hostcomputing device, where the user preference data indicates preferencesof a user regarding a plurality of inter-video objects. Each inter-videoobject may be an object displayed within a video content item (e.g.,character, object, location, etc.). Further, the user may be sociallynetworked to other users within a social graph. As introduced above,preference data may include explicit data indicating user-definedpreferences provided by the user and/or implicit data based onmedia-related user behavior collected for the user.

At 304, method 300 includes requesting a selected video content itemfrom the host computing device. The selected video content item may bean episode of a television show, a movie, a sports game, on-demandprogramming, etc.

At 306, method 300 includes receiving the selected video content itemfrom the host computing device. This may include, for example,displaying the selected video content item on a display of the clientcomputing device.

At 308, method 300 includes receiving from the host computing device arepresentation of social context regarding preferences of the otherusers within the social graph to an inter-video object within theselected video content item. The representation of social context may bebased on an aggregation of the user preference data and preference dataacquired by the host computing device from the other users within thesocial graph. In other words, other client computing devices may havealso sent preference data to the host computing device, such that thepreference data acquired by the host computing device includespreferences of the user as well as preferences of other users within theuser's social graph.

At 310, method 300 includes displaying the representation of socialcontext on the display. As described above, the representation of socialcontext may include any sort of social context related to theinter-video object. For example, the representation of social contextmay include statistics about user preferences of the other users withinthe social graph to the inter-video object, suggested video contentrelated to the inter-video object, and the like. Further, in someembodiments the representation of social context may be displayed duringa presence of the inter-video object on screen. However, in someembodiments, the representation of social context may be displayed in adiscovery menu (e.g., a programming guide).

As a possible use scenario, during viewing of an episode of thetelevision show Lost, hypervideo techniques (e.g., facial recognition)may be applied to determine a particular character of the episode thatthe user prefers to watch. The user may then be provided with, forexample, clips of the episode having that character on screen. Asanother example, a user may pause the show, click on a character, andthen view other shows including the actor who plays that character.

Further, in the case of the inter-media object being an audio contentitem, inter-audio objects may include objects within the music, such asinstruments, vocals, etc. As a possible use scenario, a user may listento portions of different songs, such that the preference data indicatesa certain preference to guitar solos performed by a Musician X. As such,it may be determined that several other users within the user's socialgraph also like guitar solos performed by Musician X, and the user maybe provided with suggested content which contains other guitar solos byMusician X.

It is to be understood that the configurations and/or approachesdescribed herein are exemplary in nature, and that these specificembodiments or examples are not to be considered in a limiting sense,because numerous variations are possible. The specific routines ormethods described herein may represent one or more of any number ofprocessing strategies. As such, various acts illustrated may beperformed in the sequence illustrated, in other sequences, in parallel,or in some cases omitted. Likewise, the order of the above-describedprocesses may be changed.

The subject matter of the present disclosure includes all novel andnonobvious combinations and subcombinations of the various processes,systems and configurations, and other features, functions, acts, and/orproperties disclosed herein, as well as any and all equivalents thereof.

1. In a computing device, a method of providing social context for aninter-media object occurring within an audio and/or video content item,the content item being accessible by a plurality of socially networkedusers within a social graph, the method comprising: receiving preferencedata indicating user preferences of each of the plurality of sociallynetworked users regarding the inter-media object; aggregating thepreference data across the social graph to form social graph aggregatedata; providing the content item to a selected user of the plurality ofsocially networked users; based upon a location of the selected userwithin the social graph, generating a selected set of the social graphaggregate data for the inter-media object from the social graphaggregate data for the selected user; and providing to the selected usera representation of social context for the inter-media object based onthe selected set of the social graph aggregate data.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the representation of social context for theinter-media object is provided to the selected user for display duringan on-screen appearance of the inter-media object.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the inter-media object is an inter-video object, andwherein the method further comprises recognizing the inter-video objectduring playback of a video content item, and in response, displaying therepresentation of social context of the inter-video object duringplayback.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the representation of socialcontext for the inter-media object is provided to the selected user as adiscovery result within a discovery menu, the discovery result providingone or more entry points to user-selectable video content suggested tothe selected user based on the selected set of the social graphaggregate data.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the representation ofsocial context for the inter-media object includes statistics about userpreferences of one or more of the plurality of socially networked userswithin the social graph to the inter-media object.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the preference data includes, for each of the pluralityof socially networked users within the social graph, explicit dataindicating user-defined preferences provided by that socially networkeduser.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference data includes,for each of the plurality of socially networked users within the socialgraph, implicit data based on media-related user behavior collected forthat socially networked user.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising collecting the preference data via inter-video objectrecognition and facial recognition.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising collecting the preference data via a manual approach based oncommunity-based tagging.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein theinter-media object comprises one of a character within a video contentitem, a physical object within a video content item, and a locationwithin a video content item.
 11. In a computing device, a method ofproviding social context for an inter-video object occurring within avideo content item, the method comprising: receiving from one or moreusers preference data indicating user preferences of the one or moreusers regarding a plurality of inter-video objects, each inter-videoobject being an object displayed within a video content item, and eachof the one or more users being socially networked within a social graph;aggregating the preference data across the social graph to form socialgraph aggregate data; receiving a request from a client computing devicefor a selected video content item; sending the selected video contentitem to the client computing device; recognizing a presence of a firstinter-video object in the selected video content item; generating aselected set of the social graph aggregate data corresponding to thefirst inter-video object from the social graph aggregate data; andsending to the client computing device a representation of socialcontext for the first inter-video object based on the selected set ofthe social graph aggregate data for display during an on-screenappearance of the first inter-video object.
 12. The method of claim 11,further comprising: receiving a second request from the client computingdevice for a second selected video content item; sending the secondselected video content item to the client computing device; recognizinga presence of the first inter-video object in the second selected videocontent item, and sending to the client computing device arepresentation of social context for the first inter-video object. 13.The method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving a second requestfrom a second client computing device for a second selected videocontent item, the second client computing device associated with anotherof the one or more users socially networked within the social graph;sending the second selected video content item to the second clientcomputing device; recognizing a presence of the first inter-video objectin the second selected video content item, and sending to the secondclient computing device a representation of social context for the firstinter-video object.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the firstinter-video object is one of a character within the selected videocontent item, a physical object within the selected video content item,and a location within the selected video content item.
 15. A clientcomputing device, comprising: a display; a logic subsystem configured toexecute instructions; and a data-holding subsystem holding instructionsexecutable by the logic subsystem to: send user preference data to ahost computing device, the user preference data indicating preferencesof a user regarding a plurality of inter-video objects, each inter-videoobject being an object displayed within a video content item, and theuser being socially networked to other users within a social graph;request a selected video content item from the host computing device;receive the selected video content item from the host computing device;receive from the host computing device a representation of socialcontext regarding preferences of the other users within the social graphto an inter-video object within the selected video content item, therepresentation of social context based on an aggregation of the userpreference data and preference data acquired by the host computingdevice from the other users within the social graph; and display therepresentation of social context on the display.
 16. The clientcomputing device of claim 15, wherein the user preference data includesexplicit data indicating user-defined preferences provided by the user.17. The client computing device of claim 15, wherein the user preferencedata includes implicit data based on media-related user behaviorcollected for the user.
 18. The client computing device of claim 15,wherein the preference data acquired by the host computing device fromother users within the social graph includes one or more of explicitdata indicating user-defined preferences provided by the other userswithin the social graph and implicit data based on media-related userbehavior collected for the other users within the social graph.
 19. Theclient computing device of claim 15, wherein the representation ofsocial context includes statistics about user preferences of the otherusers within the social graph to the inter-video object.
 20. The clientcomputing device of claim 15, wherein the representation of socialcontext includes suggested video content related to the inter-videoobject.